Somerset County Sheriff holds "Sheriff for A Day" contest for middle and high-schoolers

Joe Epstein/The Star-LedgerSomerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano at the John F. Kennedy school in Raritan in this file photo.

SOMERSET COUNTY — What most children want to know about Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano is if his officers have dogs or if his gun is loaded. What they don’t ask, he said, is what does he actually do.

Provenzano is offering them the chance to find out first-hand.

His office is celebrating its 300th year by holding a "Sheriff for A Day" contest that will give a middle- or high-schooler in Somerset County the opportunity to spend a day as sheriff.

County residents in grades 6-12 must design an anniversary patch for the office, and the winning entry will be featured on department stationery. The contest is open to students enrolled in both private and public schools in the county.

The patch will not be used on uniforms, but will be the official 300th anniversary logo, Provenzano said. The deadline for contest entries is Dec. 1, and a ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 28 at the historic courthouse in Somerville.

The patch design must:

• Include the text: "Somerset County Sheriff’s Office

• 300th Anniversary"

• Be in full color

• Have the same roughly triangular shape of the current patch

Provenzano said the concept came about as department officials debated how to mark 300 years in existence. The contest was the preferred choice from the beginning, as other ideas for celebrating the tricentennial included projects that were costly and generally unappealing, such as repainting the squad cars.

The contest, meanwhile, provided a chance to celebrate and educate.

"We wanted to get our future (generation) involved in this," said Provenzano, elected last year to a fourth term. "They really don’t know what a sheriff does."

Most students have the image of the Old West, an era when stoic sheriffs upheld the law with steely resolve and trusty six-shooters, said Michael Godown, an assistant principal at Bridgewater-Raritan High School.

There are some students who know the office oversees the jail, and the sheriff is an elected position, he said.

But most don’t understand the political side of the office or of its less-glamorous duties, such as serving divorce papers, he said. The office also assists local law enforcement agencies with specialized teams such as the gang & terrorism unit, the LO/JACK unit and the K-9 unit.

"They think of it as frontline, day-to-day law enforcement rather than a government figure," said Godown, who previously taught history and social studies at South Hunterdon Regional High School in Lambertville.

The Somerset County sheriff oversees a department of four undersheriffs, 54 sworn sheriff’s officers, 112 correctional officers and a budget of about $6 million. The office has 206 employees.

The winner of the contest will have a glimpse into that world. The winner will be sworn in, attend the officers’ morning roll-call and spend a day fielding calls and answering questions with Provenzano standing nearby.

"When you offer kids the chance to explore something on their own, that’s the best learning tool they can have," Godown said.

Entry forms can be found on the web site of the sheriff’s office at www.somcosheriff.org. Entries must be in the shape of the current patch and designed in color. They can be submitted by mail or by e-mail to Barbara Bye of the Somerset County Sheriff’s Office at bye@co.somerset.nj.us.